Bluetrek Concerto Bluetooth headset does email, texting, and Bing 411

Bluetrek’s new Concerto Bluetooth headset which was announced today enables users to do email and texting using a Bluetooth headset without ever touching their phones. This is accomplished through a partnership with Dial2Do which is responsible for the software end of things and makes the voice recognition possible. This Bluetooth headsets proprietary command system allows the user to not only voice dial people in their phone book, but also send, listen and respond to both emails and text messages or even post to networking sites like twitter, yes… twitter. In addition to all of that, a different model, the Crescendo, is also capable of implementing Bing 411 and Traffic 511. While this may be great, lets? not forget you can also use Google 411 using a normal Bluetooth headset and phone. Everything on this Bluetooth headset is done through one button which activates the Dial2Do voice interface that allows the user to control the phone completely hands free.

Initially, the Dial2Do interface will allow users to compose and send emails as well as text by voice and listen to emails being read back. A software release within the next 60-90 days will enable Blackberry, Android, and Windows Mobile users to hear text messages read back to them through the concerto headset. They also stated that the iPhone 3GS app will be available later in the year…

The Dial2Do service can be accessed and used by almost anyone and new users can sign up for the service directly from the website. Now comes the tricky part, in order to receive the email, voice mail , and text message functionality users must pay a $3.99 a month fee. Or they can just go with the basic package for free which includes everything except voice email and texting. With the basic service, users can update their google calendar, listen to news headlines, access and respond to social media, and create a reminder memory that will be emailed to them and added to their "to do" list on the Dial2Do website, which can also be read back to them.

Fortunately, those who purchase the Concerto will receive a free 60 day trial subscription to the premium Dial2Do service. The Concerto Bluetooth headset will be available at $89.99 and begin shipping in March this year.

We look forward to getting the opportunity to try out this software and hardware combination and to evaluate its effectiveness and value. What really seems to concern us a bit is the fact that the device requires a subscription in order to operate at its full potential which means that the product’s functionality relies upon the existence of the company who designed it. In addition to that, we do understand that Dial2Do’s business model is to get as many devices as possible sold in order to sell the customers the service, but in the end we feel like making customers pay extra for this service will drive a lot of consumers away from a device that could be considered cutting edge. If there was one thing I would have recommended it would have been a pay now(pay $120+) or pay later ($3.99 fee). I just don’t think that most people these days need another bill to be paying…